Meaning: knee

Illustrative Context

He put his hand on his knee.

Target Sense

• The most generic term for the knee as a part of the human body.
• The term entered should be generic in referring to the articulation (as a whole) between the upper (thigh) and lower (shin/calf) parts of the leg, in the sense of the leg bending at the knee.
• Avoid narrower terms that refer to only more specific parts of the knee joint, e.g. English kneecap.
• In most languages, and as in the illustrative context, the basic term for knee also has a prototypical application to the ‘front’ of the knee, upon which one might kneel, or rest one’s hand. Do not enter terms such as the little-known English word hough, that refer instead to the ‘hollow’ behind the knee.
• In many languages the root used for this noun meaning also forms part of the corresponding verbal expression for kneel, as in English, in French s’agenouiller or Spanish arrodillarse. This is normal, but given that the target meaning here is the noun, provide only that form, not the verb form.
• Give the form applicable to one knee, as in the illustrative context. Usually this will of course be the singular form; avoid any special dual/plural formations. A dual/plural form should only be given if it is the basic, default form in a given language, which would require additional singulative morphology to refer to just one of the two knees.
• Avoid technical, medical terms, where different.